Ruby:

Ruby Wren Designs is a small business in Northamptonshire specialising in Greeting Cards & Gift items. We make the 'RUBYrecycled' eco-friendly greeting card range, featuring delicate designs hand cut into ElliePoo card. The designs are chic and unique, something we strive for! We also love sparkly things and like to create jewellery. Run by artist Hayley Mitchell, Ruby Wren Designs is also taking part in the Prince's Trust Business Programme. The Prince's Trust is a charity set up by Prince Charles to help young people into business.

At a young age, Hayley set up a website which reported on the gift industry and trade fairs which ran for many years and allowed her to visit the headquarters of some of the best gift and greetings companies in the world, product launches and events. Her enthusiasm for these leading companies launched an interest in beautiful, design-led products. One of her role-models is Mr Ty Warner, who she was lucky enough to meet and talk with, inspiring her to start her own business years later. His company Ty Inc., along with Carte Blanche Greetings (creators of the Me To You bear range) and Depesche Vertrieb GmbH & Co. KG (Diddl and friends) have fueled a passion for greetings cards and gifts which is undoubtably the reason for Hayley starting Ruby Wren Designs and creating her beautiful handmade cards.

Our materials:

Everyone is excited by Ruby's Elephant Poo! We aim to create the most environmentally friendly cards as possible and we use 'Ellie Poo' to do this. Made with recycled card and Elephant Poo, The Exotic Paper company who supply the materials for our RUBYrecycled range, have helped us to create a unique and ethical product. The small Somerset-based company make 100% recycled paper in the UK in a traditional paper mill. They are approved by NAPM (National Association of Paper Merchants) and are members of BAFTS (British Association of Fair Trade Shops). We love Exotic Paper and think they are lovely people!

Elephants are herbivores which means their waste is very clean - using poo from a meat-eater wouldn't be suitable due to the bugs and waste meat. Everyone who has touched, felt and smelt our cards using the ElliePoo Card have always been pleasently surprised! It's soft, clean and smells of...well, paper! Elephant Poo is obviously a waste product and will rot very easily.

Elephants around the world are used as working animals and as they get older, they become less "useful" and are considered a 'burden'. The Exotic Paper company who make the Ellie Poo paper support The Millennium Foundation in Sri Lanka who home and look after these old elephants. By using Ellie Poo paper in our cards, we're helping the Exotic Paper company to continue their support. We love elephants!

Read more about the Exotic Paper company and their wonderful conservation work here.

We're also using their special Reindeer Poo card for our Christmas range!